Sustainability and integration – the principal challenges to tourism and tourism research

ABSTRACT

What are the biggest challenges facing tourism and tourism research? This paper answers this question by canvasing the opinions of recognized experts in the field. The analysis is based on 30 interviews with fellows of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. Two key thematic issues were identified. First, the pragmatic issue of how to operationalize sustainability and its various sub-elements, such as climate change, overtourism, and tourisation to ensure the long-term future of tourism. Second, the need for further integration between disciplines within the tourism field, between tourism and other fields, and between research and practice.     

The dark side of making transit irresistible: The example of France

The French experience in developing policies to reduce car use in metropolitan areas is presented in this paper as an illustration of the lack of recognition of the broader set of criteria on which specific policy frameworks should be judged. One of the major challenges, and often failings of policies focussed on reducing car use, is the lack of a structure that ensures that the downside impacts are not relocated to other parts of a system such that potential gains end up being eroded by the potential losses. We draw on experiences throughout France, as well as case studies in Lyon, to highlight the dark side of French transport policy promoting a switch from car to public transit and non-motorised modes, in terms of financial, equity and environmental outcomes.     

金融危机下中国外贸形势分析:未来趋势与主要挑战

多年来,对外贸易尤其是出口增长成为我国经济增长的主要动力。2008年,受金融危机影响,全球经济增长速度放缓,我国对外贸易增速明显滑落。当前,我国外贸形势出现进出口价格回调、贸易条件改善等新趋势,但是,在外需持续下降、保护主义抬头、人民币汇率不确定性提高等多种不利因素的影响下,2009年出口增速可能继续下调,不排除出现大幅回落的可能性。未来一段时间,应稳定外贸政策,加大金融支持力度,鼓励企业开辟新市场,开发新产品,积极有效应对外部冲击。     

The future imagined: Exploring fiction as a means of reflecting on today’s Grand Societal Challenges and tomorrow’s options

European science policy (so-called Horizon 2020) is guided by Grand Societal Challenges (GSCs) with the explicit aim of shaping the future. In this paper we propose an innovative approach to the analysis and critique of Europe’s GSCs. The aim is to explore how speculative and creative fiction offer ways of embodying, telling, imagining, and symbolising ‘futures’, that can provide alternative frames and understandings to enrich the grand challenges of the 21st century, and the related rationale and agendas for ERA and H2020. We identify six ways in which filmic and literary representations can be considered creative foresight methods (i.e. through: creative input, detail, warning, reflection, critique, involvement) and can provide alternative perspectives on these central challenges, and warning signals for the science policy they inform. The inquiry involved the selection of 64 novels and movies engaging with notions of the future, produced over the last 150 years. Content analysis based on a standardised matrix of major themes and sub-domains, allows to build a hierarchy of themes and to identify major patterns of long-lasting concerns about humanity’s future. The study highlights how fiction sees oppression, inequality and a range of ethical issues linked to human and nature’s dignity as central to, and inseparable from innovation, technology and science. It concludes identifying warning signals in four major domains, arguing that these signals are compelling, and ought to be heard, not least because elements of such future have already escaped the imaginary world to make part of today’s experience. It identifies areas poorly defined or absent from Europe's science agenda, and argues for the need to increase research into human, social, political and cultural processes involved in techno-science endeavours.     

我国企业海外并购发展趋势与问题简析

近些年我国企业海外并购增长迅速,主要集中在北美和欧洲,亚非并购呈显良好发展势头。能源电力仍是主要并购行业。并购主体多元化,民企海外并购呈上升趋势。但我国企业海外并购以能源资源和国企为主导,易引起目的国猜忌;民企并购融资困难;国内行政审批手续复杂,国外投资壁垒较多;并购前期准备不足,并购后期整合不利。需从国家政策支持、加快发展并购相关服务、提升企业运营水平等方面促进海外并购发展。     

新疆向西开放：变迁、挑战

当前,中国向西开放的总体战略布局已经形成,新疆作为向西开放的桥头堡和排头兵,必将肩负着更加重要的任务.本文在论述了向西开放战略变迁的基础上,对新疆在向西开放战略中所处的机遇和挑战进行了分析,认为新疆正处于向西开放和西部大开发两大战略的历史交汇处,同时又面临着周边形势复杂、金融危机冲击、中亚国家区域整合等方面的挑战.为此,新疆应面对挑战,抓住两大战略历史交汇的重要机遇期,明确自身在向西开放战略中的定位,依托自身独特而优越的区位优势和资源优势积极开拓国内外两个市场,构建全方位、多层次、宽领域的开放格局,将向西开放的主要着力点集中在口岸建设、基础设施、商贸物流等方面,尤其要发挥喀什、霍尔果斯两个特殊经济开发区的作用.     

深圳率先建设普惠型社会福利制度探讨

在分析深圳优势的基础上,本文探讨深圳建设普惠型社会福利制度问题。借鉴香港经验,研究深圳率先建设普惠型社会福利制度对策,建议根据“适度普惠、参照香港、国内领先”三大原则,分步构建与深圳经济社会发展水平相适应、总体水平国内领先、覆盖全民尤其是弱势群体的阶梯式普惠型社会福利体系。     

城镇化的挑战与希望

文章论述了我国的城镇化与全球三次城市化浪潮相比的自身特点;分析总结了我国目前城市发展主要面临的八个方面的挑战:人地矛盾非常尖锐,候鸟式的农民工规模大且流向分布失调,能源存量结构失衡且建筑能耗增长过快,机动车数量快速增长,城镇化的推动力失衡,自然和历史文化遗产遭到破坏,城乡居民收入差距日益扩大,城市之间恶性竞争,再此基础上提出了应对以上挑战的若干策略。     

网络时代大学出版社保持学术传播主导地位研究

面对信息化和网络化的冲击，伴随着学术传播方式的变化，大学出版社在学术传播中的作用也在发生相应的改变，而且面临着挑战与机遇。为此，大学出版社应充分利用网络化优势，加强自身信息化建设；以网络为平台，提高自身的学术影响力；注意加强与数字图书馆的协调与合作，通过设计一个对彼此都有利的合作基础，共同促进学术的传播与发展。     

加入WTO对我国软件业的挑战与对策

中国加入世贸组织，既为我国软件业的发展提供了难得的历史机遇和发展空间，又对我国软件业现状提出了严峻挑战，软件产品的市场竞争必将更加激烈。因此，我们应当放眼世界，从实际出发，认真分析入世给我国软件业带来的机遇和冲击，积极采取相应对策，促进软件业结构调整，加快核心技术研究．搞好原始创新，进一步完善市场运行机制，转变政府职能，鼓励更多的软件企业发挥优势参与国际竞争，开拓国际市场，尽快实现我国软件业的规模化、国际化经营。